


Stuck In Between

by SweetDeceit



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Awkward Cullen, Blow Jobs, Cullen is a beast in the sheets, Cullen is dirty, Detective Cullen, Detective Noir ?, Doctor Trevelyan, F/M, Fingerfucking, Friends to Lovers, Mentions of Pedophilia, Romance, Roommates, Roommates to friends, Sexual Tension, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, all the feels, mentions of rape/non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 14:48:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14059290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetDeceit/pseuds/SweetDeceit
Summary: Evelyn just moved to New Haven to start her residency at New Haven Hospital. While looking for an apartment, she finds the perfect place for her, along with a perfect roommate: a handsome, mysterious detective named Cullen Rutherford. The attraction, unbeknownst to them, is mutual. Both keep their pining hidden, neither of them wanting to cross the line and ruin their roommate-match-made-in-heaven.But when they discover the truth about one another, will the line become blurred? Are they doomed to forever be not quite lovers, not 'just friends'? Will they forever be, stuck in between?Wanted to write my other Cullen fic, but the idea of modern day Cullen roommate wouldn't leave me alone, so here we are. This fic will change and evolve as it goes.





	1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: Nothing too groundbreaking here, Trevelyan and Cullen become roommates. Hope you enjoy .** _

* * *

 

Evelyn checked her phone as she put her car in park. This was the right address, there was no doubt about it. She looked up at the house, and was lost in the sight of it for a moment.

The architecture was modern and sleek; exactly her style. The sky was perfectly clear and a cool breeze blew through her open windows as she flipped the switch and began rolling them up. She noticed a newer make, black muscle car parked in the driveway next to her. 

She grabbed her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her messages, landing on the conversation with the number she hadn’t bothered to save yet. She read the conversation through fully just to make sure she was at the right place, the right time.

* * *

 

_Hi, is this the listing for West Cove Ave?_

_Yes, it is. My name is Cullen, I own the property._ _  
_ _Who is this?_

_My name is Evelyn Tevelyan, I was interested in renting._

_Could I come see the place?_

 

_Could you tell me a little about yourself?_

_Oh right, of course. I’m 24, working on becoming a doctor_

_and just moved here from Ostwick. Looking for a place_

_while I’m in my residency at the New Haven Hospital,_

_so hopefully a year or two if all works out well._

 

_Would this Thursday at 11am work?_

 

_Yeah, definitely. I’ll meet you there._

* * *

 

Evelyn tucked her phone back in her pocket, turned her car off and reached for her purse in the passenger seat. As she stepped out of the car and began walking to the front door, she thought about how much better it looked in person than in the pictures she had stared at endlessly online.

Walking to the front door, she heard the waves of the ocean crashing against the cliff that she knew was basically right in the backyard of the house, and she wanted nothing more than to go see it now, but that had to wait.

As she took the final steps onto the porch, she checked her appearance in the glass outer door. Her long deep brown hair looked about as good as it could, and she noted that it at least had some nice beach waves at the ends.

She checked her clothing once more. A very loose and flowy gray t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts made her feel a little under dressed, but this was all she had clean at the moment, since the motel she was staying in didn’t have a laundry unit.

She wore a pair of tan booties which she loved, and which were easy to run in, she reminded herself, in case things took a bad turn. But this certainly didn’t look like the house of a murderer.

Taking one final moment to adjust her plain black purse over her shoulder, she reached out and pressed the doorbell, instantly feeling panicked as she did so.

A few seconds passed, and her nerves didn’t settle. She turned to look at her car, and thought once more about ditching before the door opened and a man’s voice snapped her attention back to the house.

“Hi, you must be Evelyn.” Evelyn turned back, a smile almost pulling at her face, until she saw him. In the doorway, with his hand extended, was nothing short of a Greek God.

The first thing she noticed was his paralyzing amber eyes, she had never seen eyes so warm and beautiful. His blond hair was somehow perfectly styled without being overdone and his jawline could probably cut her if she touched it. She had to tear her gaze away from a scar on his mouth, because she was almost drooling over it.

He was wearing a simple white t-shirt, loosely fitted, and some jeans with casual loafers. She was relieved that he was dressed casual too.

Realizing that he was waiting for her to shake his hand, she ungracefully grabbed his and shook it gently. She could barely think of anything besides the heat of his palm as she spoke. “Yes, that’s me, you’re Cullen?” He shook his head once as he looked her over. The sweep of his gaze and lack of a response made her more nervous. “So nice to meet you!” she gave him a smile.

He stepped back, allowing her a path inside the doorway. “You as well. You wanted to look around?” She smiled politely as she stepped inside, trying to ignore how nice he smelled as she did so.

She consciously had to shift her focus to looking around the house, and not at the alluring man she had just met.

The entryway led straight into the center of the house, with the kitchen on the left and the living room on the right. The whole place had a modern industrial vibe, with edison bulbs,exposed brick and black pipes everywhere. “It’s even better in person.” she said, speaking aloud as she stepped further in.

She noticed a black leather couch in the living room, a mounted flat screen, along with a fireplace. The entire place had wooden floors, and they were old and worn looking, with cuts and scrapes here and there that made her smile.

She drifted into the living room, laying a hand on the couch absentmindedly. He watched her as she made her way deeper into the house. Whatever he had expected her to look like, this wasn’t it. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her legs, they were long, tan, and perfectly toned. Each step she took made his eyes drift over her form. She was petite, but curvy. She looked athletic, like a gymnast. 

Her face was even more perfect than her body was; her lips were beautiful curves among the angles of her cheekbones. The fullness those lips nearly made him stare overlong in the doorway. Luckily, she was more focused on the house now, so he was able to look her over more carefully.

He watched her as she continued on her browse through the space.The back wall of the house was almost entirely a huge window. The view was spectacular, she could see the ocean endlessly. She smiled at the sight, grasping the door handle and turning back to face him.

He quickly had to tear his eyes off her body as she smiled at him, “May I?” she asked politely. She was a lot more considerate than the previous would-be-renters had been, a very good sign.

He nodded and she pulled the door open, allowing a strong breeze to blow her hair back as she stepped out onto the patio. The cliff on which the house sat was a good distance away, and between the house and its edge sat the patio and an average size pool.

She tried to keep from smiling too widely; everything was even better than in the pictures. She could smell the ocean’s salt in the breeze and hear the waves crashing, and the warmth of the sun melted any worries she had coming here today.

Cullen watched from the doorway of the patio as the mysterious Evelyn walked along the patio for a few minutes before turning back with a wide smile on her face once again. She seemed to smile quite a bit.

When she saw him, her smile faded the smallest bit, as if she was collecting herself. She walked to the door and he moved aside to let her in. “So,” she began as he pulled the back door shut, closing out the breeze, “why has this place not been rented out yet? The site said it’s been listed for nearly a month and a half, I can’t imagine it’s because of disinterest.” her voice was crystal clear and music to his ears.

She walked into the kitchen and looked up at the Edison bulbs dangling from the ceiling, she adored those Edison bulbs. “I suppose that’s my fault, really.” he admitted to her. She came to a stop behind the kitchen counter and one of her eyebrows arched in interest.

“Oh? Why’s that?” He stood at the edge of the living room. His arms folded over his chest before he shrugged and dropped his arms.

“Maybe I’m too picky.” He gave the smallest possible smile, if she was seeing right.

“Hm.” Was her only reply to that. She opened the oven and the microwave. Neither were spotless, but that was fine by her. She clicked her nails on the dark granite counter top before turning and leaving the kitchen to move back to the living room. “So where is the room you’re renting?” she asked.

He began walking past the living room and into a hallway she hadn’t noticed before. She watched his confident walk as he strode down the hallway, his shoulders back, his muscles showing through his thin white shirt.

Good views all around, she noted.

He lead her halfway down the hall, to an open door. She noted there were three more doors down the other half of the hallway, all those doors were closed. He ushered her towards the open door and she stepped inside.

The room wasn’t the biggest, but it had large windows which allowed plenty of warm light, with a big closet. “The bed’s a full, you can switch it out if you want to, just let me know.” He said, his voice smooth and calm. She walked to the windows, which faced out to the driveway. It wasn’t as pretty a view as the ocean side, but it certainly wasn’t ugly. There was plenty of open land full of wildflowers to look at.

She turned back to him, “And the bathroom?” He stepped back and walked to the door directly across the hall and opened it. She followed him and stepped inside. It was pretty plain; there was a simple gray tile floor, a single vanity with a square white ceramic sink, with a black cabinet underneath with plenty of space for her stuff. Between the sink and shower sat a simple toilet which looked freshly cleaned. The shower was in the far back corner, and it was a slab of glass, it was beautiful and simple, just like the rest of the house.

He watched her quietly, giving her space to look around and not feel crowded. She turned back to him after inspecting the bathroom. “And the laundry?” Cullen nodded to her.

He began walking back down the hallway to the kitchen, she followed closely behind. “Right down this way.” She nodded as he stopped at a door off to the right of the kitchen. He pulled the door open and flipped one the lights, illuminating stairs leading down. She followed closely, holding onto the wooden banister to steady herself.

As they walked, she made small talk, “So, what do you do, Cullen?” He hesitated a moment before telling her.

“I’m a Detective for the New Haven police department.” they reached the bottom of the stairs, but she wanted to keep him talking.

“Is there a lot of crime to speak of around here?” She asked as she looked over a treadmill, dumbbells, a squat rack and a bench press in the wide open space, but she couldn’t spot the washer or dryer.

“Not around here so much, there’s more of it downtown.” She nodded as she walked up and touched the bench press bar, which she noted had a good amount of weight on it. From just a glance she could tell he was benching easily more than she weighed. The thought made her shiver.

“Do you work out a lot?” he asked. She turned back to him, nervous knowing he probably was way more in shape than she was.

“I try to,” she said, downplaying how much she actually did workout, “I’m on my feet most of my days at work, so finding the energy for it can be difficult.” He nodded.

“I know how that can be. Unfortunately, the washer and dryer are down here over in the corner, so you have to lug your clothes up and down from here.” She looked to where he was pointing and went to go look.

“That’s not bad at all.” He quipped his brow up at her in a questioning sort of way. “The place I’m staying now doesn’t have anywhere to do laundry, so I’d be thankful just for the option.” She let out a small, friendly laugh, and he returned a polite smile. Evelyn turned back to the stairs and began climbing them, with him following. She hoped beyond hope that her butt looked good from his angle.

“What’s your schedule like?” he asked as they reached the top of the stairs. “I typically work nights, so I usually am sleeping in the day and-”

“You need quiet, right?” she finished for him. He nodded, “I work nights, too. Graveyard shift mostly. But, like I said on the phone, I’m doing my residency right now. Which basically means I’m always on call.” she lifted her gray t-shirt enough to show a pager clipped to her shorts, and in doing so, exposed part of her toned stomach, he couldn’t keep his eyes from drifting away from the pager. “So you probably won’t be seeing too much of me.”

She walked back to the large back window before turning back in confusion. “I thought the listing also said there was a dog…?” Cullen’s back straightened as he remembered.

“Right, I can go get him...?” he said, as if asking her if she even _would_ like to meet him. She nodded to him and he disappeared down the hallway. She took a seat on the couch and patiently waited, not a few moments had passed before she heard paws clicking down the hallway.

The dog entered the room and made a beeline towards her. She smiled at the sight of the handsome light gray pitbull that greeted her. The dog was muscular and somewhat intimidating at first, with piercing gold eyes she hadn’t seen on a pitbull before. The dog sniffed at her leg as Cullen entered the room.

He was surprised to see her sitting calmly. He had gotten to this point with two other prospective renters, and both of them were horrified to share a house with a pitbull. “What’s his name?” she asked, smiling at the dog as he continued to sniff her outstretched hand finally gave it a lick of approval before returning to sit at Cullen’s side and wait for a command.

“Deli.” Cullen answered.

“ _Deli_?” Evelyn repeated, obviously surprised. The dog barked once, as if confirming his name to her.

“He came with the name, I adopted him when he was two, he was already used to it.” Deli stared at her, his tail only slightly wagging.

“He doesn’t seem to like my very much.” Cullen reached down and gave Deli a few head strokes.

“He gave you a lick, be grateful for what you’re given.” She laughed at that, and her dazzling smile returned once more, causing a smile to spread across his own face. There was something very charming about her. Her presence brought a warmth along with it, and he couldn’t ignore it.

Her smile slowly faded as they locked eyes. She ran a hand through her hair, hoping to hide the blush. “So, what’s the verdict?” she asked with a sigh, “Are we roommates?”

Cullen took a moment to respond. “Do you have two forms of I.D.?” she let out a scoff of a laugh before pulling a wallet out of her purse.

“Of course, Detective,” Evelyn said jokingly. She handed him her driver’s license and her hospital badge. She looked just as beautiful in both pictures as she did sitting there before him. “I can pay the security deposit, and first and last month’s rent right now. Do you take cash?”

It was Cullen’s turn to scoff, “You brought that much cash to a stranger’s house?” She blushed.

“I’m….a little eager to move in.” the blush spread further. “I’m holed up at that motel a few miles down the road and….. I’m not a fan.”

Cullen handed Evelyn her I.D.s back before giving it one last thought: let her move in or not?

She intrigued him, that was for sure. She was gorgeous, obviously intelligent, based on profession alone. But she seemed a little strange, too.

“What caught your eye about this place, anyway? Isn’t it a little out of your price range?”

“When I was in school sure, these days, not really. Being in my residency means I’m racking up more overtime than I can stand. As for what drew me here?” She turned her head to the oceanfront and then back to Cullen. “The view and that it’s somehow 20 minutes from my work and not in town, I like open space.”

“Do you have any pets?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t really had the time for one lately. I have some houseplants though. Do you have any allergies?”

Cullen was a little surprised at that, usually he was the one asking the prospective tenant all the questions. It seemed she wanted a compatible roommate just as much as he did, and wasn’t just desperate for a place to live. “No,” he answered, “plants are fine, they might liven the place up a little.” She smiled at that.

“Do you have any hobbies?” he asked, hoping she wouldn’t say something along the lines of ‘listening to screamo-death metal 24/7.’

But, she just shrugged, “Um, I read a lot, recently just books on how to do different surgeries, so nothing too exciting. Other than that, I like to go on runs, I cook sometimes but I’m not too great at it, and I like to swim.”

Cullen he stated before responding. “Okay, so I don’t really have too many rules.” He motioned to the hallway, “The last door is my office, I have a lot of case files in there usually, and some of them are ongoing, so please don’t go in there unless I tell you it’s okay. The last door on the left is my room and my bathroom is in there as well. I don’t really see a reason you’d ever need to go in there.”

Evelyn gently nodded in acknowledgement. “Other than that, if you want to have people over, please just ask first. The pool is open for you to use as much as you like, same with mostly anything else, just clean up after yourself if you ever make a mess.”

“And what about rent?” Evelyn asked.

“Right, uh when is a good time for you? Shall we say the last Friday of every month?” Evelyn bit her lip and narrowed her eyes in a questioning way.

“Would the first Friday of every month, actually? I like to get all my bills out of the way early in the month so I can budget for the rest of it.” Cullen was only partly surprised by that, he liked to do the same thing in truth, but thought others would be more procrastinating than himself.

“Yes, of course.” Deli nudged against Cullen’s leg, and Cullen gave him a few more pets on the head.

After a moment’s pause, she reached into her purse and pulled out a thick envelope and handed it to Cullen. “You can count it if you want,” she said happily. He sifted through the bills, not really bothering to count at the moment, and looked back up to her. “So? When can I move in?”

* * *

_**Author's Note: Basically have the next chapter done, just making some final changes and gauging interest. Thanks for the read!** _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: The plot thickens!** _

* * *

 

Two weeks already passed since Evelyn Trevelyan had moved in, and Cullen had barely noticed. They both worked during the same times, so they slept mostly during the same times, too. He had only occasionally bumped into her as they would get ready for work in the mornings, which was fine by him. 

He had never been overly attracted to women in scrubs before, but there was something so put together about her in that deep blue that made him more intrigued by the day. She somehow looked graceful and elegant in an otherwise shapeless uniform. And he loved to watch her put her hair up in a neat bun, and see how messy it would be when she got home at the crack of dawn, about when he got home as well. 

Other than bumping into her going to and from work, he rarely remembered she was there. He had to walk past her room to get to his own, but the most noise he ever heard was soft jazz, the relaxing kind, thankfully, not the kind that makes you want to bash your head in. 

She kept both her bathroom and room door open most of the time, which he personally never did. He somewhat appreciated that she did, because he could sneak glances inside without specifically intruding. He told himself it was just the detective in him being curious, but it wasn’t. 

He was fixated on her, for whatever reason. 

They had only had a few conversations that lasted more than a few minutes, but he already knew she was funny, witty, and drop dead gorgeous. It was a bonus that she was considerate, clean, and quiet. 

One time he walked past her door to find her pulling on a pair of pants over a pair of black satin underwear. He only got a quick look, but the image had stuck in his mind and he found himself getting hard every time he thought back to it. Her ass was just as tight and perky as he thought it would be. 

He liked to think of himself as a respectful man, who didn’t drool over women, but he was still a man, as red blooded as any other.

He had thought about asking her to be more mindful about keeping her door closed after that, but he wasn't sure he wanted her to.

Cullen had thought he hit the jackpot with this roommate. She was everything a good roommate should be and she was very pleasant to look at, which wasn’t required, but it was a nice bonus. 

Yes, Cullen had thought he hit the jackpot, until one night when he came home after a few drinks out with a friends from work. He knew Evelyn worked on Wednesdays, so he hadn’t expected her home. 

Which is why he was surprised to find her car parked in the driveway and the lights on inside. He parked his own car before heading inside to find Evelyn in the kitchen, along with a man. 

As he stepped in, Evelyn locked eyes with Cullen immediately and looked somewhat mortified. She was sitting at one of the spots at the breakfast bar, but facing toward the living room. The man was examining her cheek before he finally looked up at Cullen as he entered the room. Both Evelyn and the man wore scrubs, making Cullen even more curious about what was taking place at his kitchen counter.

“Hi Cullen,” Evelyn said with a smile and a wince as the man did something to her cheek, “this is Dorian, he’s an old friend and works with me at the hospital.” she said nicely, trying to divert attention from whatever Dorian was doing. 

Dorian looked him up and down, “A pleasure,” he said, “somehow Evelyn, you failed to mention that your roommate was not only a detective, but a model.” Cullen cleared his throat, and attempted to ignore the comment. 

“Nice to meet you,” he said as he continued to walk closer to the pair into the kitchen, “did something happen?” Evelyn smiled through another wince as Dorian took what looked to be a alcohol wipe to her cheek. 

“Oh, nothing really.” she said, still smiling and waving him off. Dorian rolled his eyes at the statement as Cullen came to stand towards the other side of her, revealing the other half of her face. 

“Yes,” Dorian echoed, “ _ nothing _ , really. A druggie high on a  _ plethora _ of drugs sucker punched her in the E.R. but no, nothing  _ really _ .” Cullen’s heart dropped as he saw the deep red mark spread across her cheek, along with a gash which had been stitched up, but was still bleeding lightly. 

Cullen, reacting out of instinct, approached quickly, “Are you alright?” she nervously looked down as Dorian opened up a gauze bandage and placed it over the stitched cut. 

“Yes, I’m fine. It just stings.” she responded, finally looking at him. Her emerald eyes looked into his and his heart nearly skipped a beat. He realized that he was probably making her uncomfortable, so he took a step back to give her space.

Dorian scoffed again at her response. “Just wait until the numbing agent wears off.” She sighed. 

“Thanks, Dorian.” she said genuinely. He came to stand directly in front of her, and let out a deep breath. 

“Next time,” Dorian said in a more gentle tone than before, “just knock their ass out with a sedative before you start working on them. I know how you feel about it, but they aren’t in their right minds like that.” Evelyn nodded quietly before Dorian turned away and started heading for the door. 

“Right,” he said loudly, “my Uber should be here any minute, I’ll see you tomorrow Evelyn.” As Dorian brushed past Cullen, he spoke in a hushed voice, “Do take care of her for me, won’t you, detective?”

Cullen reflexively spoke; “Of course.” A few moments later, Cullen heard the front door shut behind Dorian, leaving Cullen and Evelyn alone. 

Cullen suddenly noticed the deep red stains on her scrubs, and wondered how he had missed them when he first walked in. Evelyn looked shy and seemed even more quiet than usual. “Are you alright?” he asked again.

She smiled again, and he realized she was forcing it. Her smile was tight, as if she was in pain, and more than that, it looked as if she hadn’t been faking the smile, she would cry at any moment. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, letting herself down from the tall chair at the breakfast bar, “it really doesn’t hurt too bad.” 

“What happened?” he asked, coming closer to her again. She stiffened in her seat. 

“Basically what Dorian said…” her forced smile was gone, “a man came into the E.R., high, but he was going through withdrawal, too.” Cullen stiffened. 

“Withdrawal from what?” he asked, not really wanting to know the answer. 

“Lyrium,” she answered, his stomach churned, any second she would go on a rant about addicts, he could feel it, “you can tell it’s lyrium because their veins turn black when their symptoms flare up, especially when they’re first off of it.” 

Cullen already knew this. He didn’t offer a response, but she seemed willing to continue on her own, if only to get her embarrassing tale out of the way. “I should have just sedated him to begin with, but….” Cullen searched her face for an answer. 

“But..?” he echoed, urging her on. 

She shrugged and rose from her chair. “I don’t know...He seemed like he was scared, he was very high, he was probably trying to stave off the pain from the withdrawal.” she shook her head looked up at him, “What good was one more drug in his system going to do?” 

Her emerald eyes were glossy. She turned and walked deeper into the kitchen, likely to try and hide the tears as she tried to covertly wipe them away. Cullen was surprised at her answer, to say the least. 

At the same time, he felt suddenly panicked. He had been off of lyrium entirely for about two years now, ever since he left the Templar Special Ops Task force. He had quit it, cold turkey. There were still bad days, days when he was consumed with rage and pain, where his veins were as black as sin, where he was hot and cold at the same time, shivering yet sweating. Days when he felt barely in control of his actions. 

These days were bad, miserable, even, but they were never as bad as his nights…

He felt ashamed, though. He hadn’t told her that she might find him like that one day, he didn’t even tell her he was once a templar. He dreaded the thought that she might one day find out all of this; she was a doctor. Surely, she would see him as nothing more than a common druggie, an addict, and that’s all he would ever be to her-

He tried to cut that train of thought off, and questioned her instead. “Why not sedate him, though? You would have flushed the drugs out of his system eventually. It’s not like sedatives are harmful.” She opened the freezer and pulled an ice pack out, but she moved slower, as if considering the question. 

“Dorian asked me the same question.” she said, as if in a dream. “I….I didn’t think he’d hurt me. I still don’t think he meant to.” Cullen felt like his head was spinning, “He just seemed….scared. I wanted to help him calm down on his own.” 

Cullen had to force himself to not think back to the countless times he’d woken up, terrified from his nightmares, his demons. 

Evelyn pressed the ice pack to her face and winced. He felt something in his gut turn at the sight. He forced himself to speak, “What happened?” 

“I was trying to get him to take deep breaths, I was getting an IV ready to give him fluids and something for the pain. I turned away to grab an alcohol wipe to clean his arm, and when I tried to look back to him….well,” she motioned to her face. 

“Did you file a police report?” Cullen asked, he felt like he was on autopilot, like the cop Cullen had taken over while he tried to take in that this intelligent, beautiful, lively woman was also...compassionate. 

He wondered for a moment how someone could be so perfect. 

She nodded, “Everyone in the E.R. saw it.” She took the ice pack off briefly, “You should have seen me before,” she said, pointing to her face.

“Before what?” he asked, his mind still trying to find a flaw about the woman in front of him. 

She pressed her hand against her cheek, just over the bandage, and a pale green light emitted from her palm. His heart dropped, “Before I used my magic on it. I had a black eye before I healed it.” Cullen’s heart dropped. 

Evelyn walked past his form, now frozen in place. “Hopefully I can knock the rest of it out before my shift tomorrow, I really would hate to show up to work like this.” 

Her words were drowned out in his head. 

He tried to be positive; at least he finally found her flaw. 

Evelyn Trevelyan, his  _ roommate _ , was a mage.

* * *

_**Author's Note: two chapters in one day, don't get used to it, I basically have had them both written for a few days. Hope you all enjoyed!** _


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: This chapter is dark, but I like it. I want to make Cullen's detective work part of this fic, so here is a bit of what that may look like. Warning: ahead there are mentions of rape and pedophilia.** _

* * *

 

Cullen strode across the city street comfortably. The street was bathed in red and blue flashing lights, and yellow tape was strung up around the apartment building to which he was headed.

“So, she’s a mage?” Detective Rainier, or Blackwall, as everyone on the force called him, asked with a voice that sounded more like he was saying ‘who cares?’

“Yes.” Cullen responded as he pulled the strip of crime scene tape up so he could step under it. Blackwall followed suit. The two strode up to the building, flashing their badges to the young rookie guarding the entrance to the building. With a nod, they were cleared to enter.

He could hear Blackwall sigh from behind him. Blackwall had been his partner since he joined on as a detective two years ago, but Blackwall never could quite understand Cullen’s mistrust of mages, or magic in general, really.

As the two walked up the three flights of stairs, they spoke. “Cullen, she’s been living in your house for nearly a month now-”

Cullen interrupted, impatient with how dismissive Blackwall was being, “Not that much time, really. I don’t know her.”

He could hear Blackwall mumble under his breath, though he didn’t catch the words. Blackwall continued, “We’ve been partners a few years now.” he said flatly.

Cullen didn’t see the point to that, but Blackwall continued after a brief pause. “You’re a good judge of character, you know you are, _I_ know you are. You can pick out a criminal easily enough. Does she seem a criminal to you?” Cullen bit his lip as they continued ascending the stairs. It was an old, grungy and dimly lit building located in downtown New Haven.

“No.” Cullen nearly grunted. “That doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous. There are….complications that come with being a mage.” Blackwall let out a huff.

“One could say the same about being a Templar,” Cullen clenched his jaw as the reached the third floor landing, “or, former Templar, for that matter.” The two walked down the hall of the third floor, police officers scoured the scene, photographing the hallway and bathing it in bright flashes of light.

Cullen and Blackwall once again showed their badges to another rookie posted at the door. They entered a nearly pitch black scene, with only a little light coming from a static TV. They entered the living room of the small apartment slowly, coming to a stop at the body in the center of the room.

Cullen and Blackwall pulled their black latex gloves from their coat pockets. Cullen knelt down to get a closer look at the body, whose chest was smoldering. “Male human, Caucasian, mid to late 40’s,” Cullen spoke, trying to derail the conversation.

Blackwall came to kneel on the other side of the body, letting out a whistle as he looked at the hole in the man’s chest, and the smoke that was rising from it. “Apparent fireball to the chest.” Cullen said, looking up at Blackwall with a smug expression. “Tell me again why I shouldn’t worry that there’s a mage in my house.”

Blackwall rolled his eyes. “Cullen, the girl’s a doctor for maker’s sake. What about that screams ‘unstable maniac’ to you?” Somewhere in the back of Blackwall’s head, he knew he shouldn’t push Cullen like this. He knew his partner had a bad past with magic, and it was only natural he would be cautious, but it had been years since his...incident, and Blackwall figured it was time for him to be pushed out of his comfort zone, even if it was just a little.

Cullen pointed down at the man on the floor as he stood up. “Do you think this man thought the mage that killed him was a maniac? Look at the expression on his face. That’s surprise, shock; he didn’t expect it.”

“Alright,” Blackwall said, pulling out his phone, “what’s this girl’s name?” he asked.

“Evelyn Trevelyan.” Cullen said as he walked through the apartment, finding scorch marks on the walls. He suddenly stopped and turned back to his partner. “Why?”

Blackwall looked up at Cullen as if he were stupid. “I’m checking her profile on Facebook. I have to see what has Detective Rutherford shaking in his boots, now don’t I?”

Cullen had a blank expression on his face. “You _did_ check her Facebook, _didn’t_ you?” Blackwall asked. Cullen kept the same blank face. Blackwall sighed deeply.

“I don’t have one, you know that.” Cullen replied he felt on the spot; cops were drifting around the apartment, snapping pictures of every detail of the scene.

Blackwall typed her name into the search bar, and started laughing. Cullen strode back to see what his partner was laughing at. “ _This_ is the girl?” Blackwall held the phone out to Cullen, and he nodded.

The profile picture was her sitting at what looked to be a formal dining table, a bright smile on her face and deep red lipstick coating her full lips. Her long brown hair was curled elegantly and swept off to one side, a deep green evening gown with two dainty straps holding it up showed off her tan and toned shoulders and arms, along with just the right amount of cleavage. Her eyes were shining, even more pronounced with the dress bringing out their emerald color.

Just as in person, she was a vision.

Blackwall let out a deep breath as he zoomed in on the picture, “You have this girl living just down the hall from you, and you’re _not happy_ about it?” Cullen felt like he was the butt of a joke.

Blackwall continued scrolling, stopping on an image of her in her usual dark blue scrubs and a long ponytail, she was holding up two thumbs to the camera. “Oh, look at this. ‘First day on the job at New Haven Hospital!’ You know what? You actually should be afraid, Cullen. This is the type of girl everyone falls in love with. _Terrifying_.”

“Okay, I see your point.” Cullen admitted. “But do you see mine, as well?” he asked, motioning to the corpse, obviously slain by magic. Blackwall shrugged.

“We don’t know what happened yet.” Cullen wanted to roll his eyes. But Blackwall was right.

“Right.” he agreed. “I’ll check the living room and kitchen, you check the bathroom and bedroom.” Blackwall nodded once and disappeared down the small hallway.

Cullen had a system he liked to follow when dealing with homicides, start from the beginning, work your way in. Thankfully, Blackwall liked to do the opposite, so the two usually worked very well together.

Cullen swung the door mostly closed and inspected the locks on the door. The immediate thing he noticed was just how _many_ locks there were to speak of on the front door. He counted three of them. Though they were all broken from when police kicked the door in when responding to the smell of burning flesh.

It was a bad neighborhood, but just one lock would have sufficed, surely. He made a mental note of it and continued on.

He went into the kitchen next. Looking over the cabinets, he saw child proof locks everywhere. He didn’t hear any mention of the victim having a child when they were dispatched to the scene.

Other than the child proof locks and the locks on the cabinets, Cullen didn’t find anything remiss. But a bad feeling had begun to sink into his gut. He walked to where the body was laying in the middle of the living room.

The man was wearing a t-shirt and some boxers. From the position he was lying, he guessed the man had been facing the door when he was struck with what appeared to be a blast of flames, most likely due to magic.

An ugly picture took shape in Cullen’s head just as Blackwall cried out for his partner to join him in the only bedroom in the apartment.

Cullen already had a good idea of what he would find when he entered the room. Blackwall sat on the ground in front of the back closet, appearing to have just pulled the door open.

Inside, huddled into a ball in the corner, sat a tiny girl, no more than ten years old. The inside of the closet was covered in dirt and dust, just like the girl. The closet obviously had served as her cage.

Blackwall held out a hand and spoke to the girl in a quiet voice, Cullen stood frozen in place.

* * *

 

Whatever Cullen had expected this night to be like, this wasn’t it.

The girl was the only other one in the apartment besides the victim; they needed to speak with her, but she needed medical attention. The girl’s hair was a gnarled mess, her skin was filthy and bruised, her bones protruded as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks.

So here he was, sitting in the girl’s hospital room as they waited for a doctor, or nurse even, to come see the girl.This wasn’t typical procedure, but all signs pointed that the girl was abused, and her powers had finally appeared, leading her to accidentally kill the man. With that to consider, they needed to make sure their witness, with no family yet located, was seen to.

More than that, every time he or Blackwall tried to leave the girl’s side, she would start whimpering and crying.

They hadn’t been waiting long when a small but loud knock came at the door. Cullen shouldn’t have been surprised when Evelyn entered the room. He felt that Blackwall would have smirked at him, were it under different circumstances.

Evelyn gave them a friendly nod, her eyes lingering on Cullen for a few moments.

This was the first time they’d been in the same room since the night she revealed his magic to him. His avoidance of her was purposeful; he had went to work early, got home late every night for about a week now. But he couldn’t avoid her, he supposed, with their professions let alone their living situation, he expected they’d be seeing each other a lot.

“Detectives,” she said in acknowledgment of them. In her hands she had a clipboard and a teddy bear, she placed both on the girl’s hospital bed as she pulled over the rolling stool and took a seat beside the girl.

The child just watched her with a heavy expression. “Hello there,” Evelyn sounded warm and friendly, “my name is Dr. Trevelyan,” she squirted some handsanitizer in her palm and rubbed it over her hands, “but you can just call me Evie. Do you have a name?”

“She wouldn’t give us a name on the way over,” Blackwall interjected when the child just stared at Evelyn in response. Evelyn gave Blackwall a brief nod.

Evelyn turned back to the child and smiled, “No name, huh? That’s okay. I brought you something.” she reached to the bear and handed it to the girl, who took a few long seconds of staring at the bear before reaching for it and taking it gently. “This is Dr. Fuzz, he’s going to be helping me today, is that okay?” The girl nodded slowly. “Awesome.” Evelyn said happily.

Evelyn reached over onto the night table and pulled a pair of latex gloves from the box sitting there. She slipped them on absentmindedly before removing a chart from the clipboard and laying it onto the bed. She took the stethoscope from around her neck and placed it into her ears. “Can you sit up for me, hun?” The girl did so slowly.

Evelyn took the girl’s heart rate and asked her to take a few deep breaths so she could check her lungs. “Great job.” she said, writing the vitals down on the girl’s chart. She reached for a laminated sheet, showing a line of cartoon faces ranging from a smiley face to a crying one.

“Okay, do you have any pain?” the girl stared at her blankly. Evelyn pointed to the chart, “Right here is for no pain at all, this is 1,” she pointed to the smiley face, “here is for it hurts so much you can’t stand it, this is 10.” she showed the girl the crying face.

The girl stared at the page for a few moments, Evelyn opened her mouth, expecting to have to repeat the question. The girl reached out before Evelyn spoke and pointed to the seven mark. Cullen watched Evelyn’s face drop as the girl looked back to Evelyn.

Her face quickly switched back to the warm, friendly smile she had entered the room with. “Okay, thank you for answering.” she said, holding up another chart, this one showing a cartoon girl in pajamas. “Can you show me where it hurts so I can help you?”

This time, the girl didn’t hesitate for long before pointing between the cartoon girl’s legs. Cullen heard Blackwall let out a shaky breath, and he had to turn away for a moment. He noticed a shakiness in Evelyn’s voice when she finally spoke.

“O-okay, um, thank you, sweetie.” Evelyn jotted down notes on the chart with a shaky hand. She then opened a nearby drawer and retrieved what Cullen knew to be a rape kit. She tore the pack open before closing the curtain between the girl and the two detectives. “I just have to do one thing and then we can clean you up and get you some food, okay?”

Blackwall turned and rubbed his beard in frustration. “What the fuck is wrong with people?” Blackwall asked under his breath.

* * *

 

After the girl was cared for and the rape kit was given to them to take to forensics, Cullen and Blackwall headed back to the police station.

“Maker’s balls…” Blackwall muttered as Cullen drove. He knew Blackwall would return to their earlier conversation, if only as a way to forget about what a crappy night they both had just had, and honestly, it was a relief to be back on the subject on Evelyn, as opposed to their new case.

Just as Cullen had expected, Blackwall switched their focus, “Well, maybe next time I’ll get to meet the young lady under better circumstances.” Cullen didn’t have a response, the night had left him very much empty.

Blackwall sighed heavily, “In all seriousness, Cullen, she might honestly be good for you to have around.” Cullen clenched his jaw, Blackwall threw his hands up in feigned exasperation. “Just give her a chance, okay? You’re too bloody stubborn. You always jump to conclusions where mages are concerned, just like tonight. You were all too ready to assume a mage ambushed that man. You get tunnel vision when magic is involved.”

Cullen’s temper was beginning to flare up as Blackwall finished, “Just give her a chance, stop avoiding her. Talk to her.”

“I haven’t thrown her out yet, have I?” Cullen asked, his anger seeping into his voice. Blackwall let out a dry huff.   
  
"Does she know you were a Templar?" Blackwall asked. 

Cullen paused, "No, she doesn't." Blackwall stared at Cullen.

"Does she know about the withdrawal?" Cullen gave no response, "What about the nightmares?" Cullen still offered no answer, but Blackwall knew the meaning behind Cullen's lack of words. "Sweet maker....You have to tell her." Cullen's head snapped back to Blackwall. "Cullen, you have to. You know what you're like when the symptoms-"

"I haven't had an issue in months." Blackwall bit at his lip. 

"Maker, help this girl." He said, effectively ending the conversation. 

When the two arrived back at the station, they set to work filing their accounts on the crime scene. Cullen was always faster at this than Blackwall, so he found himself without anything to do other than thinking of Evelyn, and the kind smile she had shown the young girl. 

* * *

_**Author's Note: That's all for now, hopefully this chapter wasn't too dark. I doubt many other chapters will be this dark.** _


End file.
